


Boy's Wanna Be Her

by babinforaelin



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roller Derby, Explicit Language, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Roller Derby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25913434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babinforaelin/pseuds/babinforaelin
Summary: Aelin invites Rowan to watch her Roller Derby game and it isn’t what he expects…. at all.Rowaelin Roller Derby! AU
Relationships: Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Rowan Whitethorn, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Rowan Whitethorn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 55





	Boy's Wanna Be Her

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve obviously been watching Whip It! too much because all I can think about is this AU. Its been floating around in my head for months, so I hope you guys enjoy xx

Rowan didn’t know quite what to expect as he wandered up to the giant warehouse with the rest of the massive crowd. But blaring rock music and a frenzied swarm of people certainly wasn’t it.

“What the hell is this?” said Fenrys from beside him, becoming increasingly irritated as the crowd elbowed past. Lorcan only grunted in agreement from behind them.

Rowan didn’t bother with a response, since he too had no idea what he had gotten himself into.

When Aelin had invited him to watch her play Roller Derby, Rowan had assumed it would be a bunch of people on roller skates dancing around a rink. As he looked around at the crowd, many of them looking like the last people on the planet who would dance in skates, Rowan realised his assumption had been very wrong. A brawly man covered in tattoos glared at them as he passed, and Lorcan practically growled with a ferocity that would have sent lesser men running.

Rowan still didn’t know what he thought about Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. She’d invited him in their university library of all places. The complete opposite of the setting he now found himself situating. Knowing her, she’d probably done it to lull him into a false sense of security. Though he supposed that she loved to surprise him with things that made his heart skip a beat, or sometimes just stop altogether. Their friendship had started out cold, mainly due to the fact that their personalities clashed and they had fought like cats in those initial few weeks. It was only worsened by the fact that they shared a number of the same electives and were constantly in the same classes. They constantly bickered about everything whenever they saw each other outside of class, whether it be at one of Fenrys and Connal’s parties, or at the university cafe. Their fighting had become fiercer and more wicked as the days passed, until one day they were arguing about god-knows-what in the stairwell of a mostly-forgotten part of their university, their faces getting closer and closer until suddenly they were kissing with a similar fervour. It had taken that kiss to make Rowan realise that underneath all of their bickering, he was indeed incredibly attracted to the burning flame that was Aelin. Especially in recent weeks when she would pull him into unused classrooms around campus and show him just how fiery she really was.

He had been expecting a similar tryst when she had pulled him between some forgotten shelves in the university library. Except she had asked him to come to her Roller Derby on Saturday night instead, and simply handed him 6 VIP passes for all of his friends with a wink, stating that it was the best place to see the action. Then she had strutted out of the shelves with a flick of her hair and disappeared altogether.

So no, Rowan had no idea what the hell he had gotten himself into when they finally crossed the threshold of the giant warehouse doors, only to see a huge oval skating rink sat in the middle of it. The rink itself was sloped inwards, with a flat expanse at the bottom where umpires in striped shirts and roller-skates talked amongst themselves. Around the edge of the rink sat a padded barricade that looked brutal and unforgiving, and also apparently the only thing that would stop someone from falling into the crowd below. This was definitely not going to be people dancing in roller-skates. Not a chance.

“I am so fucking confused, Whitethorn,” Connal grumbled as they walked to their seats. Aelin had reserved them a row of seats that sat eyelevel with the track, but it looked as though the rest of the stands that had been set up around the warehouse were a free-for-all. One Rowan was definitely glad he wasn’t going to be a part of. He spotted Aedion in their row and the man gave him a lopsided grin. Since Rowan had gotten to know Aelin, she had introduced him to her cousin, who was her mirror image in appearance but also personality. Rowan grinned back as he walked into their row and sat down beside the man, clapping him on the back in greeting. The rest of his friends filed in after him, with Fenrys to his left.

Aedion had brought friends with him too, who he introduced as Dorian and Chaol. Rowan nodded to them in greeting and they smiled back. None of the men looked as confused as he felt, and Aedion must have seen it on Rowans face.

“She didn’t explain it, did she?” Aedion asked with a grin plastered on his face.

“Of course she didn’t,” Rowan ground out, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

“That’s our Aelin,” Aedion said with a laugh as he took in Rowan’s disgruntled expression.

“Hey Ashryver,” Fenrys drawled from next to him, “mind telling us what they hell this is?”

Aedion’s smirk grew even larger as the lights went down and the crowd started roaring with excitement.

“Girls on skates,” was all he said, and Rowan knew full-well that whatever was about to happen was going to be much more than that.

* * *

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,” a male voice rang out over the loudspeaker, drowning out the screams from the crowd. “PLEASE WELCOME TO THE TRACK, THE WICKEDEST, WITCHIEST AND BITCHIEST WOMEN FROM THE WESTERN WASTES, THE HURTEEN!”

Fenrys let out a strangled laugh beside him as the crowd went into a frenzy, hoots and roars of excitement loud enough to shake the stands as people stomped their heels against the metal underfoot. The people crowded around the rink leant underneath the railing to slap their hands against the track. Rock music pumped through the speakers and from across the warehouse the sound of a female war cry started. Thirteen young women came from unseen area of the warehouse and began circling around the outside of the track, the crowd stepping back to give them room as if the women radiated a ferocity that scared even the most hardened of men. From what Rowan could see, they were all dressed in red and black, but their clothes varied as some wore scandalously short skirts while others opted for long pants. All of them looked brutal. They were being led by a woman with snow-white hair and a vicious look on her face. Their captain then, Rowan mused.

Suddenly that male voice boomed through the speaker again, as he started calling out their names individually. As each one was called they hauled themselves into the rink and did an individual lap around the track before standing to one side of the flat base of the rink. Not their real names, but nicknames that captured their personalities as skaters, Aedion said from beside him. Some of them had even Lorcan choking on his drink, particularly “Narene Nut-Cracker” who skated around the track with a wild grin on her face, golden hair plaited back and a leather band across her forehead. All of them wore black and red stripes across their cheeks, like war paint.

The crowd got even louder as the white-haired captain gripped the rail and pulled herself up.

“AND FINALLY THE HURTEEN TEAM CAPTAIN, THE ONE, THE ONLY RED DEMON.”

She flipped herself onto the track, and the crowd went wild, screaming as she skated past them with her black fishnets and red socks. She wore a simple black bra with a crudely cut mesh top over it, and shorts that had “Red Demon” written across the back.

Aedion teased Dorian endlessly as she skated by them, Manon he called her, quickly glancing at Dorian as she went. The young man had gone bright red.

Before Rowan could ponder it further, the voice boomed out of the speakers again.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, GIVE A SCREAM AND A SHOUT FOR THE MOST RUTHLESS TEAM ON THE BLOCK, THE NASTIEST BITCHES FROM THE NORTH, THE TERROR-SINNERS!”

Another female war cry sounded from across the warehouse and then a line of green-helmeted heads were making their way to the track. The crowd had worked themselves into a state of madness, people clawing at each other to see the new team skate around the edge of the rink. Aedion started hollering next to him, as the presenter once again started listing off names. These girls were no less scantily clad than the Hurteen, but green and silver replaced the red and black as they started climbing into the rink. Rowan looked for Aelin but the crowd had grown too thick to see past.

“THE BEAUTIFUL AND BITCHY, CAT-ASSTROPHY,” the presenter howled as a dark-haired beauty dipped under the railing. Rowan knew her. It was Lysandra, Aelin’s best friend and coincidently Aedion’s girlfriend. Rowan glanced at the man next to him to see that lopsided grin spread across his face once again. Lysandra rolled past, blowing Aedion a kiss as she went. His smile spread wider, and Rowan chuckled.

A few more names were called out; each more wicked than the last, until only one faceless skater edged around the outside of the rink.

“AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT THE LEAST, SHES THE FREAK IN HEAT, THE FIRE IN OUR LOINS, ITS THE ONE, THE ONLY, FLAME-FATALE!”

Rowan had found Aelin attractive before, without a doubt. But words failed him as he saw her hand grip the edge of the railing and flip herself over it. His breath was knocked out of him as he took in her outfit. She was clad in the shortest green shorts that Rowan had ever seen, a silver belt slung low on her hips. Her emerald button-down shirt had been tied in a knot just below her breasts, revealing the lighter bra underneath, and the sleaves had been mostly ripped off. Like most of the other women, hole-filled black fishnets clung to her creamy thighs, and her knee-length white and black striped socks covered her strong calves. Her black skates were adorned with green laces, and Rowan could see little flames had been painted on the heels. His blood heated as she took her lap around the rink, especially when she sent a smirk and a wink his way while she sped past.

Aelin joined the rest of her team at the benches in the centre of the rink, and both teams huddled as they discussed final strategies and schemes. The women adjusted their helmets, as well as their knee and elbow pads. What kind of sport was this?

Eventually a referee standing in the centre of the rink blew his whistle and both Aelin and Manon met him. The man started prattling on, but both women just stared at one another with looks that promised slow-death. Once the man had finished talking, Manon slid closer to Aelin and started speaking in a low and hushed tone that Rowan strained to hear over the deafening crowd. The look on the white-haired woman’s face was nothing short of vile, but Aelin was grinning. When Manon had stopped talking, she waited for Aelin’s retort expectantly, but his Fireheart only popped her mouthguard onto her teeth and skated back to the Terra-sinners with a smirk. He saw, rather than heard, the Hurteen captain growl as she turned back to her own group.

“I take back any of my concerned comments from earlier,” Fenrys said from beside him as he took in all of the short skirts in front of him, “this is going to be the best thing I have ever witnessed.”

As Rowan looked back toward Aelin, now bending over to retie the laces of her skates and ultimately giving him a sinful view of her behind, he felt very much inclined to agree.

* * *

Another whistle blew and both teams did a final war cry before five women from each team made their way to a set of lines along the banked floor of the track. Hisses and growls were shot at each other as four from each team huddled together in one of the designated spaces. Aelin and Manon both slid up behind the pack, slipping some sort of material over their helmets, revealing a big star on either side of their heads. Black for the Hurteen and silver for the Terra-Sinners.

“Those stars mark them as the jammers,” Aedion said to Rowan and his friends, no doubt seeing the confusion on their faces. “They need to have them on in order to score points.”

Apparently they looked just as confused, if not more so, because Aedion sighed, “didn’t any of you Google the rules?”

Vaughn simply shook his head, “I honestly expected it to be… dancing or something. Not… this.”

Aedion looked like he might laugh, but reined it in to give them a basic overview of the rules.

“Each team was made up of five, one jammer, one pivot and three blockers. The first whistle blows and the pivots and blockers move forward, followed by a second whistle for the jammers. It’s the jammers job to get through the pack once before they can start scoring points. Once they’ve done one lap, they go through the pack again and gain a point for each opposing girl they pass. The jammer in front becomes the ‘lead jammer’, and they get to call off a round by tapping their hips, ultimately stopping the other team from gaining points. Oh, and they have to do all of that within a two minute period before that round ends.”

A whistle blew and the girls all crouched down, Manon and Aelin taking up a position that would have them shooting through the pack. All of the women on the track looked ready to shed blood.

“Does this get violent?” Connal asked, watching the pack already elbow one another.

Aedion smirked, the action identical to Aelin, as he laughed, “oh yeah.”

The next whistle blew, and the pack eased out in front, ready to be the offence and defence at the same time. Aelin mumbled something to Manon that had the white-haired woman whipping her head toward her, but the final whistle blew and Aelin was already flying forward.

* * *

The Terra-Sinners won, but only just. In fact, it had been virtually round-for-found until Aelin had changed her teams’ formation in the final ten minutes of the game. She had been… Rowan didn’t have words to describe what he’d felt when she whipped around the rink, faster than his eyes could keep track of. His heart had been in his throat for most of it, especially as on of the Hurteen slammed her into the railing and send her flying over the edge into the crowd, who all caught her and lifted her back into the rink. The two teams fought viciously, and members from both ended up with broken ribs and black bruises. When one of the Hurteen had tried to elbow Lysandra in the throat, Aelin had punched her in the gut and earned herself a penalty. But Lysandra and Aelin had grinned at each other in that mischievous way that they always did, and Rowan knew that his Fireheart had wanted to do a lot more than simply throwing a sucker punch.

Then there had been the way that she moved, jumping over fallen players or cutting corners to fly ahead of the pack. Watching the joy on her face had made something bloom in Rowan’s chest that hadn’t fully been there before. The tight shorts helped a lot too.

Despite their sneers and insults thrown each others way, once the game was over Manon and Aelin smirked at one another, and fist-bumped as if to say “next time will be worse”.

Rowan hoped he would be invited back to see it.

“That was the best thing I have ever seen,” Fenrys exclaimed as the group of men waited for the women after the game, “I will never witness anything that spectacular again in my entire miserable life.”

“You just liked it because we were all wearing booty shorts and fishnets,” drawled Aelin’s voice. Rowan whipped around to face her, as she and the rest of her team meandered forward to meet them. They had replaced their game clothes with normal ones, and Rowan was no less aroused by Aelin in her jeans and a tank top than he was with her body in said booty shorts and fishnets. Aedion rushed over to Lysandra to give her a kiss on the cheek, but paused to ruffle his cousins’ hair. Aelin just swatted his hands away, growling.

The group started talking amongst themselves as Aelin strolled up to Rowan, smirking at the lopsided grin that had been permanently etched onto his face the entire night. 

“Did you have fun?” she asked, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

“I certainly did,” he rasped as he looped his fingers through the waistband of her jeans, “you were incredible out there.”

She gave a breathy laugh. “Why thank you,” she started. “I was worried you’d get scared.”

“Me? Never,” he teased as he pulled her closer. “I was certainly worried at some points, like when you got you ass kicked out of the rink. The only thing I was scared of was how stupid I must have been to think that you were bringing me to a roller disco or something.”

Aelin laughed again, this time loud and uninhabited.

“I can’t imagine you at a roller disco for the life of me.”

“Indeed,” he grinned before he leaned down and nipped her bottom lip with his teeth. She melted into him a bit more.

“There is an after party happening at a bar down the street if you want to go,” she said breathlessly against his mouth.

“That does sound like fun,” he mused back.

“It does,” she started, “but I can think of something more fun to do in my apartment.”

Rowan nearly combust as she rolled her hips into his.

“I like the sound of that,” he murmured against her neck.


End file.
